Gutter and trough debris cleaning implement

ABSTRACT

A long, adjustable implement with a sliding jaw movable against a stationary jaw to clamp and trap trash and debris which has collected inside of a gutter from a remote distance on the ground. The jaws are mounted on a bent neck which is part of an adjustable pole of detachable lightweight aluminum tubes in which is a cable and pulley system actuating the movable jaw when it is positioned inside the gutter trough. The tubes are separable for the purpose of adjustment to make the implement shorter or longer and the cables are easily detached and re-attached to permit the adjustment of the tubes. The cable and pulley system includes in the hollow neck several plastic pulleys guiding the cable. The movable jaw is mounted on an elongated carriage inside of a bearing surface on the end of the neck.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,74 Brackett July 3, 1973 GUTTER. AND TROUGH DEBRIS CLEANING IMPLEMENT Inventor: Horace D. Brackett, 3317 King Filed:

Fisher Drive, Decatur, Ga. 30Q34 Dec. 29, 1971 Appl. No.: 213,406

15/22 A, 144 R, 144 B, 236; 56/332, 333, 337

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Christman....

Griffith Ludt Mannen 294/19 R Primary Examiner-Even C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Johnny D. Cherry Attorney-Patrick F. Henry [5 7] ABSTRACT A long, adjustable implement with a sliding jaw movable against a stationary jaw to clamp and trap trash and debris which has collected inside of a gutter from a remote distance on the ground. The jaws are mounted on a bent neck which is part of an adjustable pole of detachable lightweight aluminum tubes in which is a cable and pulley system actuating the movable jaw when it is positioned inside the gutter trough. The tubes are separable for the purpose of adjustment to make the implement shorter or longer and the cables are easily detached and re-attached to permit the adjustment of the tubes. The cable and pulley system includes in'the hollow neck several plastic pulleys guiding the cable. The movable jaw is mountedpn an elongated carriage inside of a bearing surface on the end of the neck.

11 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The general field of the invention is that of grappling implements, remotely controlled clamping implements and the like. (Class 294, Subclass l9 and Class 294, Subclass 103 may be pertinent areas).

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 2,896,239 issued to Bugbird on an APPARATUS FOR CLEANING LEAVES FROM HIGH GUTTERS which is a brush affair with a roller means traveling along the edge of the gutter and does not include a linearly movable clamping means for effectively clamping the debris. US. Pat. No. 2,720,409 to Griffith is an elongated eave gutter cleaning device with a pair of spoon-like and pivoted clamping members actuated by a pull cable on a lever system. It is necessary to position this on a pile of debris within the limitations of the opening of the pivoted jaws with limitations as to actuation and clamping. When working from the ground at a distance from the gutter and not being able to see exactly what is going on inside, it is difficult to hold the long pole from the ground and manipulate it at such a distance, even lightweight aluminum or magnesium tubing. One main problem is in getting the trash and debris in the position where it can be clamped and then being able to clamp it with sufficient area to hold it long enough to get it out of the gutter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By getting the clamping means down into the trough from above and then sliding it substantially along the bottom of the trough it is possible to sweep a greater distance of trash and clamp it quite positively for removal. The use of a cable and pulley system provides sufficient power and force simply by pulling on the cable, and in lieu of more involved cable and link systems which are more costly to manufacture and difficult to operate for the same amount of force. Furthermore, the arrangement of the cable and pulley system being at least partly inside of the tubes and the neck that extends into the gutter trough reduces the chance of catching on the gutter or surrounding projections and protects the system from dirt and corrosion.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a remotely controlled clamping arrangement which employs a linearly movable jaw that slides along the bottom of a gutter trough.

Another object of this invention is found in the arrangement of the cable and pulley system operating the jaw whereby a relatively short pull on the cable will actuate the movable jaw for a full length at a minimum of force plus the ease and dependability of detaching the tubular sections to shorten or lengthen the pole and at the same time detaching and reattaching the cable systern.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upper end of the implement positioned in a gutter and dotted lines with leaves and other trash therein.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 2-2 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 33 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the adjustable pole with portions thereof broken away.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 5--5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the upper end similar to FIG. 3 but with a modified pulley and cable system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The implement is designated generally by reference numeral 10 and comprises an elongated pole designated generally by reference numeral 12 and comprising a series of detachable members 14 each one of which is a section made from an aluminum or magnesium tube having the lower end 16 thereof enlarged to receive the upper end 18 of the next lower succeeding tube 14. The enlarged end 16 has a hole 20 receiving a spring biased pin 22 which retains the sections 14 in connected relationship and makes it easy to detach the section 14 by depressing the pin 22 out of the hole 20.

The uppermost section 14 is inserted in the enlarged portion 24 of a hollow neck 26 constructed from bent tubing or molded from plastic and the like with a boxlike support portion 28 supporting for slidable movement therein a carriage 30 which is an elongated boxshaped member which may be manufactured from aluminum or magnesium plate in one piece or fastened together or from molded plastic. Neck 26 bends almost but not parallel to the section 14, certainly much more than 90 degrees thereto (FIG. 2). Member 30 has a slot 34 therein so that it can move substantially linearly inside the support 28 and pass clear of two plastic pulleys 36, 38 mounted on respective pulley shafts 40 inside the neck 26 near the support 28. Pulleys 36, 38 may be made from nylon, steel or other material.

As seen in FIG. 2, there are other plastic pulleys 42 arranged in pairs on respective shafts 43 in three sets inside the curved portion of the neck 26. The lowermost section 14 which is designated 14a in FIG. 4 carries in the lower end a support block 50 in which is mounted a small pulley 52 made from plastic, including nylon, or other material, the same as the other pulleys 36, 38 and 42. A continuous cable 54 is driven around A the pulley 52 and extends therefrom outside the tubes 14 through small bearings 58 molded as part of a circumferential ring or collar 60 which may be molded from plastic such as nylon or polypropeyelene. Cable 54 is detachable at each section by means of a hook and loop engagement arrangement designated generally by reference numerals 61 and comprising a hook 62 on one end of a cable and a loop 64 on the end of the cable of the next succeeding tube 14. Both parts of the cable extend through a hole 68 in the neck 26 down inside the neck across the respective pulleys 42 on the respective sides inside the neck 26. The cable 54 extends around the pulleys 36, 38, and has one end 70 attached by a rivet 32 and the other end 72 attached by a rivet 32 so that motion of the cable in one direction or the other causes a corresponding motion of the member 30 inside the support 28 in a corresponding direction.

There is a fixed jaw 78 in the form of a curved plate attached to the support 28 and a movable jaw 80 in the form of a curved plate attached by a small member 82 to the sliding member 30. Actuation of the cable 54 by means of a plastic handle 86 which is fastened to one portion of the cable near the bottom section 14a causes the jaw 80 to move inwardly or outwardly with respect to the jaw 78 depending upon whether the cable is pushed up by handle 86 or pulled down. Each jaw 78, 80 has a curved bottom lip 90 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 which rakes across the bottom 94 of a typical gutter trough 96 raking leaves 98 and other debris toward the fixed jaw 78. The distance between the jaw 78, 80 could be at least several feet but since most gutters have a support member or some other impediment across the top at a distance of two feet or so it is not practical for most gutter use to make the member 30 any longer than that nor to make the distance of travel between the jaw 78, 80 correspondingly any longer. Thin, flexible spring fingers 99 rake across the bottom of the trough 96 as the jaw 80 is extended.

In FIG. 6 the pulley and cable system has been modified by adding pulleys I02, 104 mounted on shafts 106 on the carriage 30. Cable 54 extends around pulleys 102, 104 and attaches at respective ends to a rivet 108 on opposite sides of support 28. This changes th travel of cable 54 and mechanical advantage.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment this'is by way of illustration and does not constitute any sort of restriction or limitation on the scope of the invention since there are various alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, additions, combinings, combinations, changes and departures which may be made in the embodiment shown and described without avoiding the scope of my invention as defined only by a proper interpretation of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a trough cleaning implement for remote operation from a distance including operation from the ground to clean the gutters on a house:

a. a plurality of detachable sections connected together to form an elongated continuous member held in the hands near one end and having the other end thereof positioned at a remote distance,

b. a curved member on the end of said elongated member that is remote from the end held in the hands, said curved member curving more than 90 from the longitudinal line of said continuous member,

c. a movable jaw member mounted on the end of said curved member and being actuated relative thereto inside the trough,

d. a fixed member against which said movable jaw member pushes trash and debris to grasp the trash and debris for removal,

c. said movable jaw moving transversely to the curved member.

2. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein there is a cable and pulley system extending on said elongated member and said cable being operated by hand to move said movable jaw member.

3. The device claimed in claim 2: said curved member having a support thereon on which is mounted a jaw-carrying member having a plate-like jaw extending therefrom.

4. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein: said elongated member sections each having the lower end thereof enlarged to receive the upper end of the next succeeding section, and means for preventing detachment therebetween.

5. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein: said cable is detachable between each section so that sections may be removed or added and said cable re-attached.

6. The device claimed in claim 5, wherein: there is a gripping means on said cable for actuating same.

7. The device claimed in claim 6 wherein there is a collar on some of said sections having a bearing therein through which said cable passes.

8. The device claimed in claim 2 wherein there is a pulley mounted on the lowermost section of said elongated member and a cable passes around said pulley, at least two pairs of pulleys inside said curved member around which said cable passes, and at least one pulley inside said support around which a respective end of said cable passes, one end of said cable being fixed near one end of said sliding member and the other end of said cable being fixed near the other end of said sliding memeber.

9. The device in claim 1: there being a cable and pulley system on said elongated member, said cable being continuous and traveling transversely across at said curved member to drive said movable member transversely in one direction or the other in response to the manual operation of the cable by hand on said elongated member.

10. The device in claim 9: said ends of said cable being attached near opposite ends of said movable member.

11. The device in claim 9: said ends of said cable being attached on opposite sides of said curved member. 

1. In a trough cleaning implement for remote operation from a distance including operation from the ground to clean the gutters on a house: a. a plurality of detachable sections connected together to form an elongated continuous member held in the hands near one end and having the other end thereof positioned at a remote distance, b. a curved member on the end of said elongated member that is remote from the end held in the hands, said curved member curving more than 90* from the longitudinal line of said continuous member, c. a movable jaw member mounted on the end of said curved member and being actuated relative thereto inside the trough, d. a fixed member against which said movable jaw member pushes trash and debris to grasp the trash and debris for removal, e. said movable jaw moving transversely to the curved member.
 2. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein there is a cable and pulley system extending on said elongated member and said cable being operated by hand to move said movable jaw member.
 3. The device claimed in claim 2: said curved member having a support thereon on which is mounted a jaw-carrying member having a plate-like jaw extending therefrom.
 4. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein: said elongated member sections each having the lower end thereof enlarged to receive the upper end of the next succeeding section, and means for preventing detachment therebetween.
 5. The device claimed in claim 3 wherein: said cable is detachable between each section so that sections may be removed or added and said cable re-attached.
 6. The device claimed in claim 5, wherein: there is a gripping means on said cable for actuating same.
 7. The device claimed in claim 6 wherein there is a collar on some of said sections having a bearing therein through which said cable passes.
 8. The device claimed in claim 2 wherein there is a pulley mounted on the lowermost section of said elongated member and a cable passes around said pulley, at least two pairs of pulleys inside said curved member around which said cable passes, and at least one pulley inside said support around which a respective end of said cable passes, one end of said cable being fixed near one end of said sliding member and the other end of said cable being fixed near the other end of said sliding memeber.
 9. The device in claim 1: there being a cable and pulley system on said elongated member, said cable being continuous and traveling transversely across at said cUrved member to drive said movable member transversely in one direction or the other in response to the manual operation of the cable by hand on said elongated member.
 10. The device in claim 9: said ends of said cable being attached near opposite ends of said movable member.
 11. The device in claim 9: said ends of said cable being attached on opposite sides of said curved member. 